Black Senator Confirms He’s Gay During Senate Hearing

An African-American politician in Nevada recently dropped a semi-bombshell before an audience of his peers when he confirmed during a marriage equality Senate vote hearing to repeal Nevada’s current ban on same-sex marriage that he was gay.

That language would be replaced to recognize all marriages between two people, “regardless of gender.”

The debate lasted over an hour, during which one Senator came out for the first time. Sen. Kelvin Atkinson (D) announced,

“I’m black. I’m gay… I know this is the first time many of you have heard me say that I am a black, gay male.”

Atkinson pointed out that his father’s interracial marriage would have similarly been banned decades ago, suggesting to detractors, “If this hurts your marriage, then your marriage was in trouble in the first place.”